Board of Directors
David Welborn, President
Why do you volunteer with Coastkeeper? It affords me both the opportunity to be better informed about our community's water resources and to work with other individuals a to insure that we provide adequate protection for these invaluable resources.
What do you wish everyone knew about Coastkeeper? This is a most dedicated group of individuals that, through their hard work and clarity of mission, continue to make San Diego a more vibrant and healthy community.
Read David's bio.
Sandy Edwin Kaupp, Vice President
Why do you volunteer with Coastkeeper? In the early Coastkeeper years, my wife and I felt the organization needed to thrive in San Diego. We organized educational tours of the beaches and helped restore the Sweetwater and Tijuana marshes.
What do you wish everyone knew about Coastkeeper? It is an organization with a long history of effectively making "shovels turn" on the residual pollution
Read Sandy's bio.
John Paul (JP) McNeill, Vice President
Why do you volunteer with Coastkeeper? Changing behavior to a more sustainable life is very important to me.
What do you wish everyone knew about Coastkeeper?Coastkeeper helped decrease sewage spills in the City of San Diego by 90 percent!
Read JP's bio.
Jo Brooks, Secretary
Why do you volunteer with Coastkeeper? We address the region’s most pressing environmental challenges. Everyone on the staff inspires me!
What do you wish everyone knew about Coastkeeper? We love building coalitions – and we’re really good at it.
Read Jo's bio.
Susie M. Armstrong
Why do you volunteer with Coastkeeper? Coastkeeper is driven by people who rely on passion, people skills, technical skills and data to make protect San Diego's waterways.
What do you wish everyone knew about Coastkeeper? Coastkeeper is highly valued by municipal agencies as a partner, not just as their "watch dog."
Read Susie's bio.
Harriet Lazer
Why do you volunteer with Coastkeeper? It is a place where you can make a difference and constantly learn.
What do you wish everyone knew about Coastkeeper? There is shrinking support from the government and other grant providers. We need local volunteers and funding now to fill in the gaps.
Read Harriet's bio.
Megan Lim
Why do you volunteer with Coastkeeper? The health of our environment is a critical component to the well-being of San Diegans and the economic health of our region.
What do you wish everyone knew about Coastkeeper? Coastkeeper is the premiere ocean health watchdog and advisor in San Diego.
Read Megan's bio.
Micah Mitrosky, Fundraising
Why do you volunteer with Coastkeeper? Coastkeeper ensures a safe San Diego water supply.
What do you wish everyone knew about Coastkeeper? How relentless the staff and volunteers are in their efforts to fulfill San Diego Coastkeeper's mission of fishable, swimmable, drinkable water for all San Diegans.
Read Micah's bio.
Eleanor Musick
Why do you volunteer with Coastkeeper?
What do you wish everyone knew about Coastkeeper?
Read Eleanor's bio.
Gregg Sadowsky
Why do you volunteer with Coastkeeper? It offers me an opportunity to give back to the community in a way that is personally meaningful.
What do you wish everyone knew about Coastkeeper? Coastkeeper understands the need to have a viable business community and a healthy environment, so they take small but solid steps to make development and sustainability go hand-in-hand.
Read Gregg's bio.
David Welborn, a retired psychologist, has done much to support private land conservation in Mexico and South America. He has also helped better our local environment through his work on The San Diego Foundation’s Environment Working Group, where he and his wife have a donor advised fund.
As a psychologist, David worked in a clinical and school settings. He has been with Coastkeeper since 2005 and has been involved in legal, board development and governance. He is also serving on the board of directors of a family company, Hunter Industries.
He received his PhD in clinical psychology from California School of Professional Psychology, San Diego. David is an avid outdoors enthusiast, kayaker and traveler. (Return to top)
Sandy Edwin Kaupp
Medical Researcher, United States Navy
Since 1998, Sandy has worked as a research analyst with the Navy Refractive Surgery Center, Opthalmology, Naval Medical Center San Diego.
He is a native Southern Californian and a product of California's public education system. He has focused his professional career on aspects of scientific investigations in marine biology and human physiology. He worked for eight years as both a graduate student and staff research associate with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; and four years as a research scientist in Human Performance Development at the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego.
Sandy received his bachelor of science degree in biological sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his masters of science degree in marine biology from the University of California, San Diego. (Return to top)
John Paul (JP) McNeill
CEO & Co-founder, Renovate America
JP co-founded Renovate American (formerly PowerHouse Service) in 2008 after the passage of legislation in the state of California that enabled the creation of a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) finance market.
His unique constellation of experience working with public agencies, nonprofits, consumers and the private sector have enabled him to develop comprehensive PACE solutions for state and local governments and position Renovate America as a leading provider of PACE loan programs. Prior to co-founding Renovate America, JP spearheaded business development for SunEdison, North America’s largest solar energy service provider, by forming partnerships with utilities, municipalities, public agencies and commercial entities to develop solar photovoltaic projects and programs that lead to the installation of more solar PV systems than any other developer in the United States. JP has held a number of senior level positions as chief financial officer and vice president of sales. For eight years, he was CFO and vice president of sales at Kintera, Inc., a software provider to public agencies and nonprofits. And he started his career as a certified public accountant with Ernst & Young in 1992 and worked in both the San Diego, CA and Glasgow, Scotland offices.
JP graduated with high honors from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in business administration. (Return to top)
Jo is a retired attorney of Department of State, specializing in international environmental law.
As part of her portfolio, she used to handle issues with Mexico arising under NAFTA and its environmental side agreement; treaties regarding trans-boundary movements of hazardous waste; ship recycling and other issues pending before the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee; and Presidential permits for cross-border facilities (e.g., bridges, tunnels, pipelines) to strengthen the protection of the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to joining the State Department Legal Adviser’s Office in 1989, she worked as a litigator at the U.S. Department of Justice and, before that, at the EEOC. In addition to serving on San Diego Coastkeeper’s Board, she also serves as a member of the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission’s San Diego Citizens’ Forum Board.
Although new to San Diego, Jo first came to California in the 1970s following her graduation from Yale College, where she earned a B.A. in economics. After receiving her JD from UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall (now known as Berkeley Law), she practiced law in San Francisco for several years before work took her to D.C. She is delighted to be back on the West Coast and actively involved on San Diego Coastkeeper’s Board.
Her interest in the mission of San Diego Coastkeeper comes naturally as she is an avid swimmer and can be found sculling or sweep rowing almost daily on Mission Bay. Her husband Adrian Kinnane surfs and volunteers on the sail crew of the Maritime Museum of San Diego; he is also one of Coastkeeper’s volunteer Watershed Captains. (Return to top)
Susie M. Armstrong
Senior Vice President, Engineering, QUALCOMM, Inc.
Susie, senior vice president, engineering within QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies (QCT), is responsible for the worldwide groups that integrate and commercialize QCT’s products into commercial devices wireless devices. She and her group work with the internal Qualcomm technology groups and external customers to bring these complex technologies to market in short time frames.
Prior to joining QUALCOMM in 1994, Susie worked for 10 years at the Xerox Systems Development Department and the Xerox Webster Research Center, holding a variety of software engineering positions that focused on data protocols and operating systems, and advanced development in high-speed data networking.
She holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and has done project management coursework at Stanford University. From her native Sierra Nevada home to her adopted home in coastal Southern California, she has had a strong interest in environmental issues. She is an avid outdoors person, enjoying hiking, outrigger canoe paddling and canoeing. (Return to top)
Harriet L. Lazer
Partner and CFO of The Walker Group
Harriet L. Lazer was a founder, partner and CFO of The Walker Group, a human resource consulting firm based in Phoenix, Arizona and later in San Diego.
Prior to that, her career included consulting on human resource management with Brecker & Merryman in New York and serving as Director of Compensation at Computervision.
Originally from New Jersey, she earned a degree from Barnard College. Harriet also studied at Cambridge University, The American School in Athens, Arizona State University and UCSD. In 2011, she completed accounting certification through UCSD. Her local community service has included leadership roles at Del Mar Heights School, San Diego Children’s Choir and the Bishop’s School. She and her husband reside in La Jolla. (Return to top)
Megan Lim
Development Director, San Diego Public Library Foundation
Megan has nearly a decade of nonprofit experience and is the development director at the San Diego Public Library Foundation.
Prior, she served as the capital campaign manager for Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council, where she worked alongside the organization's leadership to successfully complete a $5.5 million capital campaign. Megan's work experience also includes fund development and environmental science for a Boston-based nonprofit. Actively involved in several community organizations, Megan is currently the vice-chair of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) San Diego chapter, founding member of Women Give San Diego, board member of the California Association of Nonprofits (CAN), board member of San Diego Coastkeeper, member of Run Women Run, advisory board member of the New Leaders Council (NLC) San Diego chapter, past board member for the San Diego Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), and an active member of the Junior League of San Diego. As a volunteer with her alma mater, she conducts admissions interviews, leads the Bowdoin Club of San Diego, co-chaired her 5th reunion, and served one four-year term on the Alumni Council. Megan Lim has been recognized as an AFP Chamberlain Scholar and one of "35 under 35" San Diego community leaders by the San Diego News Network.
Megan began her fund development career working in the development department of Bowdoin College in Maine, where she graduated with honors with her B.A. in geology and environmental studies. (Return to top)
Micah Mitrosky
Environmental Organizer, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 569
In her role as an environmental organizer with IBEW Local 569, Micah works to ensure San Diego and Imperial County’s green economy creates good, middle-class jobs that are sustainable for local workers and for the environment. She is also engaging environmental partners to build blue-green alliances around climate change, clean air and water and other environmental issues affecting working people.
Prior to joining IBEW Local 569, Micah was a conservation organizer for the Sierra Club’s San Diego Smart Energy Solutions campaign. An east coast transplant and now a resident of Pacific Beach, Micah has spent a lifetime enjoying the ocean and beaches of both coasts.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Duke University and a master’s in sociology from San Diego State University. (Return to top)
Eleanor Musick
Attorney, Procopio
Eleanor Musick, an attorney at Procopio, emphasizes in patent prosecution in the areas such as telecommunications, computer software, geophysics and oceanography, trademark and copyright prosecution and intellectual property licensing.
One of the recent patent work includes seafloor electromagnetic measurement techniques for oil exploration developed at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Eleanor graduated from the University of California, San Diego, with a bachelor's in physics/earth science and a minor in literature. She obtained her law degree with Scholastic Merit from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. (Return to top)
Gregg Sadowsky
Senior Vice President and Senior Market Officer, Regency Centers
Gregg Sadowsky is a senior vice president and senior market officer of RegencyCenters, a nationwide real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in grocery-anchored shopping centers and whose innovative sustainability practices significantly reduce the use of natural resources and increase operating efficiency.
He oversees the asset management, property management, leasing and development for 45 properties totaling over 6.7 million square feet in Southern California and Nevada.
Gregg, a 28-year veteran in the real estate/retail business, holds a Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Florida, a Senior Certified Leasing Specialist designation (SCLS) from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and is a member of various industry committees. (Return to top)
